This is the fourth straight year by which SM was cited by the regional trade magazine, which honored top retailer from 14 economies.
"All our award winners are in many ways the crème de la crème companies of the region," said Steven HL Goh, executive chairman of Singapore-based Retail Asia Publishing PTE Ltd.
"We assure they embody the many great attributes of best practices and success drivers in retailing. We hope that they could in one way or another provide a source of inspiration for the many growing retail companies, big and small, across the Asia Pacific region," said Goh.
With its new direction of becoming a customer-driven and result-oriented company that focuses on teamwork and the entrepreneurial spirit, SM's Department Store chain is currently undertaking renovation works on its major stores to enhance shopping experience.
"We constantly innovate to give our customers in-store services beyond their shopping needs," said SM Inc. president Teresita Sy-Coson.
New innovation in store design will be evident in the stores at the SM Super malls in North Edsa, Megamall and Bacoor.
The new design of the megamall store departs from the usual mass merchandise set-up, targeting more upscale customers by offering better brands with emphasis on retail excitement.
The new design seeks to create a more relaxed shopping environment, mixing, attitude and practicality. Color and lighting are used to create shopping choreography to guide customers around the store.
The shopping environment uses very little color in the overall interiors, but splashes of color guide the customer's eye with surprises throughout the store.
The SM malls' expansion program this year will again provide store space to the department store and the rest of the retail group allowing it to expand aggressively.
SM City Bacolod opened early this year in the Southern Philippines and the malls SM City Taytay and The SM Supercenter in Muntinlupa are set to open this November.
To date, SM has 31 department stores, 29 supermarkets, nine hypermarkets, 37 appliance centers, 17 home stores, 20 toy superstores, 31 fashion discount stores, 14 sports stores, two baby specialty stores, and four stores showcasing local products. SM also has 34 ACE Hardware stores and 169 Watsons stores.
